Literacy is not just about reading and writing: Ban

Literacy is not just about reading and writing; it is about respect, opportunity and development, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today.

In his message on the occasion of International Literacy Day, which is celebrated on September 8, Ban asked all partners to strengthen their commitment to promoting global literacy and to back this support with the resources needed to achieve the real progress.

In a world of enormous wealth, in a world in which education and knowledge are the necessary passports to a better life, the scale of illiteracy is truly staggering, Ban said. Approximately 776 million adults — most of them women — have no secure command of the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy, the Secretary General pointed out.

Noting that 75 million children are not in school, Ban said even for those who get a start on their education, drop-out rates are very high.

"Yet it wouldn't take much to change the appalling status quo. As pointed out by Dr Lalage Bown, who will give this year's International Literacy Day Lecture, 'even the simplest acquisition of literacy can have a profoundly empowering effect personally, socially and politically'," Ban said.

With that in mind, this year's observance focuses on the empowering role of literacy, he said, adding literacy gives people tools with which to improve their livelihoods, participate in community decision-making, gain access to information about health care, and much else besides.

"Above all, it enables individuals to realise their rights as citizens and human beings," Ban said.